Post subject: Re: FitzPatrick applies for State to pay his legal costs

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:02 am

Property Magnate

Joined: Sep 8, 2009Posts: 508Location: North Dublin

Hate to say it, but Seanie will win this hands down eventually. The State's case was weak and they threw the kitchen sink at the defendants and had many of their original charges thrown out. Those charges still had to be defended however, so an innocent Seanie (as he turned out to be on this occasion) still had to spend money getting them thrown out or risk being jailed as it was a criminal prosecution.

The various branches of the executive did not cover themselves in glory either in the taking of the case or in the witness box. Nolan is a Circuit court judge with several years of potential judicial promotion ahead of him, so he won't give way but when this reaches a higher court, I think we can expect a highly quotable judgement in Seanie's favour which slates the executive, timed a few months before the election.

A little thank you from the senior judiciary to FG / Lab and the civil service for the judicial pay amendment...

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick has launched a High Court challenge aimed at preventing Judge Patrick McCartan from presiding over his trial on charges of breaching the Companies Act.Mr FitzPatrick (66) of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow is due to go on trial before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court at the end of May.He has pleaded not guilty to 27 offences under the 1990 Companies Act.These include 21 charges of making a misleading, false or deceptive statement to auditors and six charges of furnishing false information in the years 2002 to 2007.

The trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick for allegedly misleading auditors about multi-million euro loans is significantly overrunning, a judge has said.

A jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard earlier this month that loans taken out by Mr FitzPatrick, his wife and family members increased from in the region of €10 million in 2002 to around €100 million in 2007.

The State’s case is that the amount of these loans was “artificially reduced” for a period of two weeks around the bank’s financial end of year statement by short term loans from other sources, including Irish Nationwide Building Society and that these loans were not disclosed to the bank’s auditors Ernst & Young, allegedly contrary to the 1990 Companies Act.

The trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick on Tuesday became the longest running criminal trial in the history of the State.

It is the prosecution's case that multi-million euro loans taken out by Mr FitzPatrick (68) and his family were “artificially reduced” for a period of two weeks around the bank's financial end of year statement by short term loans from other sources, including Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS).

The jury has been told that the case is about the alleged failure by the bank's former chairman to disclose the extent of these loans to the bank's auditors in the years 2002 to 2007. Mr FitzPatrick has denied all charges.